spauldina



2 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. H. SPAULDING.

HARVESTER.

No. 363.014 Patented May 17, 1887.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

G. H. SPAULDING! HARVESTER.

376 294464; dfi veizfoi" PETERS, Phulwljihnqnpher. Walhingtm u. a

NITED STATES PATENT F F ICEo GEORGE E. SPAULDING, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO IVILLIAM DEERING 00., OF SAME PLACE.

HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 3 3,014, dated May 1'7, 1887.

Application filed Novembcrlfl, H84. Renewed February 14, 1887. Serial No. 227,602. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. SPAULDING, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harvesters, of which the following is a full description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention has for its object the construction of the frame-work of the machine in such a manner that the platform may be folded to reduce the width of the machine that it may pass along a common road or through farmgates.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the harvester as prepared for the road. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the shoe, so jointed that the finger-bar which it supports may be folded. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the hinge for jointing the back sill of the platform. Fig. it is a perspective View of the grainwheel-supporting casting. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the platform and the adjacent side of the frame to which it is hinged. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the top rail of the harvester with the hooks for supporting the reel during transportation. Figs. 7 and 8 are details showing the construction of the joint of the platfornrsill.

The parts A are the framework of the harvester. B is the draft tongue; 0, the main supportingwhecl. D is the self-binder frame. E is the seatboard, and F is the seat. G is the reel post, and G is the reel supporting bracket. H is the reel-shaft. H are the reelarms, and II the reel-fans. I is the pitmau. J is the platform. K is the grain-wheel. L is the divider. Misthegrain-wheel standard. N is the hinged shoe. O is the bracket for attaching the grain-wheel to the divider. P is the back sill-hinge.

Aside from the hinging parts above referred to, the harvester does not materially differ from those in common use; hence I deem no minute description necessary.

The shoe N has a broad extension, N, to which the sill A of the harvester-frame is bolted.

N is the supplemental shoe, to which the finger-bar is secured. The two shoes are provided with the lugs a. and a, which are adapted to form a hinge.

shoe N' the finger-bar is bolted, and upon the Upon the surface I) of the upper surface of N the sill A is secured. As ordinarily constructed, the sill A is bolted directly to the finger-bar. As made by me, however, the sill A and the finger-bar are, in effect, hinged together.

In order to stiffen the joint thus made when the finger-bar is straightened out, I provide each shoe with a lug, a and a, and through them pass the bolt (6. The back sill, J, I make in two parts and hinge them together, as shown in Fig. 5. The construction of the hinge is shown in detail inFig. 3, where p and p are plates, which form a hinge, and which are bolted each to one of the parts of the back sill. Beneath the sill, and taking the same vertical bolts which secure the hinge, are the plates 12 andp,having the (lownwardly-projeeting lugs, which take the horizontal bolt p. By means of this bolt the joint is stiffened, as is that between the fingerbar and the sill in front.

From necessity the joint of the finger-bar must be at the shoe, because it is at that point alone that it can be jointed without also jointing the cutter-bar. If the platform were cut on a line beginning with the shoe, and running directly backward at right angles to the cutter-bar, the part of the platform .I would be brought to a position so close to the driversseat F that the attendant could not sit in it. To avoid this difficulty, I cut the platform diagonally, placing the rcarmost hinge at a point some distance to the right and make the axes of the hinges oblique to this line. To fold the platform, it is but necessary to remove the two boltsp and a and to raise its outer end. The graiuwheel bracket-support O, having been previously removed from the divider, is now seen red to the bottom of the platform J through holes provided, so that it shall hold its end of the machine at the proper height.

To brace the upturned platform to the frame of the harvester, I provide the brace c, bolted to the seat-board E, and pass it through a hole in the fingerbar and run on the nut c.

The divider-board, to which the grain-wheel bracket-support is secured when the machine is in operative condition, is parallel with the line'of draft, while the surface of the upturned platform, to which the same parts are at times secured, is not parallel, the said surface inclining outward at the top and inwardly toward the tongue. I form the snpporting-brackct O IOO so as to adapt it to its two positions of attachment, as follows: In the bracket 0, I provide the bolt-holes d, and by means of bolts passing through them and the divider board I secure the two parts together.

T0 adapt the bracket to the upturned plat form, I provide the groove e, in which the edge of the bottom board rests. At the top of the bracket, at such a height as to be above the dlvider-board when bolted thereto, I provide a strong stud, e,which passes through the bottom board and takes a spring-key. In order that this stud shall not be in the way of falling grain when reaping, I hinge it to a lug, 6 so that it may hang and be out of the way. When placed in position on the face of the upturned platform, the bolt 0 is inserted and the bracket 0 firmly secured.

The back board, rising from the platform, is divided immediately over thehinge in a direction at right angles to the axis of the hinge and oblique to the length of the board, so that one part may pass the other as the platform is turned upward. Before folding the platform 1t 1s necessary to remove the reel. This is done by withdrawing its shaft from the bracket G. Upon the top rail, A, of the harvesterframe I place the board A and to this secure the hooks A adapted to receive one of the reel-fans. By this means the reel is hung for transportation in rear of the harvester.

When my invention is applied to the class of machines which have the cutting apparatus driven by means of a sway-bar, the pitman I is removed from the crank-wheel and supported to the platform in any convenient manner. The platform is provided with the canvas driving-rollers It and It, the joint in the platform being between them. So constructed, it is not necessary to remove the canvases when it is wished to fold the platform, as the said canvas will but hang loose between them. I slope the upper surface of the part a of the front hinge downward at its grain side, so that it shall form no obstruction to the passage of the butts of the grain.

It will be observed that my machine is provided, as usual, with the board or timber A, running in a fore-and-aft direction across the top of the elevator frame, and that when the machine is folded for transportation the reel is secured rigidly to this timber and lies in rear of the drivers seat.

It is also to be noted that in my machine the reel, when placed in position for transportation, is secured firmly in place, so thatit cannot be jolted out of position.

I am aware that a reel has been laid loosely and longitudinally on top of an elevator, construeted without a cross-bar on top, and thisI do not claim.

I believe myself to be the first to provide means by which the reel may be secured firmly to the elevator-frame, and the first to provide for supporting the reel in rear of the drivers seat.

' It is to be noted that in my machine the platform when in use is connected, asin other harvesting machines, rigidly to the main frame, and also that the hinge-j oint has a tendency toward the grain side of themachine as it approaches the rear, sothat when the platform is turned to an upright position its rear edge stands away from the drivers seat.

What I claim is- 1. In a harvesting-machine, the combination of the main frame, the platform hinged directly thereto on a line oblique to the cutter-bar,' and means, substantially as described, for securing said platform rigidly inits operative position.

2. In a harvesting-machine having a drivers seat on the grain side of the main wheel, the main platform hinged to the main frame on aline approaching the grain side of the machine toward the rear, whereby the platform may be turned to an elevated position with ,its rear edge at a distance from the drivers seat.

3. The shoe consisting of two parts jointed together in substantially the direction of the line of travel, in combination with the fingerbar and the sill A, bolted rigidly to therespective parts of'the shoe, and means, substantially as described, for rigidly uniting the two parts of the shoe at will.

4. In a harvester, a platform-frame pivoted to the harvester-frame so as to be folded to an upright position with its plane oblique to the line of travel, and a grain-wheel-supporting bracket removable from its posit-ion on the grain side and adapted to be secured to the under side of the upturned platform in position to have the wheel travel in a line parallel to the line of draft, substantially as described.

5. A harvesting-machine provided, substantially as described and shown, with a platform hinged to fold upward, and with means IIO 8. Thegrain-wheel bracket 0, provided with the flanges oblique to the axis of the wheel, substantially as described, whereby it is adapted for engagement with the oblique upturned platform.

9. The removable grain-wheel bracket provided with a folding stud, e, substantially as and for the purpose described.

GEORGE H. SPAULDING.

Witnesses:

J. F. STEWARD, JOHN B. KASPARI. 

